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Where will the women come from?

For all those ardent supporters of more women in politics, but who despair about “where will these women come from”, two events last week should have settled the question once and for all. The women will come from exactly where the men come from. And where do they come from?

There is always an expectation that more women in politics mean a moral compass better than men’s. Was I a man I would find such conjecture an insult. Are men by themselves incapable of heeding a ‘better’ moral compass? How are women, by the mere switch in gender, better equipped at morality?

We know well that women can match, and more, each and every male gem in today’s Parliament. And now, in a record first, we have as a candidate a woman, a Hindu monk, accused of terrorism. More on the sadhvi later.

The second event was Priyanka Chaturvedi’s shift. Had Chaturvedi allowed a couple of days between her quitting the Congress and joining Shiv Sena, she could have had Congress stew in its own dismal soup. But the immediacy of her entering the hallowed portals of the far-right party saved Congress from having to linger in that moment of miserable truth — that the party could so promptly reinstate men who misbehaved with the party’s national spokesperson. But it was not to happen. Chaturvedi in a breath joined the sainiks and the story moved to Priyanka’s ‘ambition’, that she wanted to ‘contest’. A revelation in itself: Ambition and electoral politics clearly do not befit a Bharatiya nari neta. Terrible.

While it was a matter of disgust for some that Chaturvedi joined the Sena, it was also a moment to note that she had wrested for herself a level-playing field. It is de rigeur for the Indian male neta to switch parties at a furious clip, chasing candidature and verily, immunity from investigation. They do it as often as perhaps, they change pajamas: same colour, different shades.

To turn to the main event last week. Sadhvi Pragya. The fountainhead of hate that continues to spew terror. On inducting Hindu sadhu-sant-sadhvis, BJP recruits the rabble-rousers to take a shot at a Parliament seat: Sadhvi Uma Bharati, Sadhvi Rithambara, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (of Ramzaade, Haramzade fame who won in 2014 from Fatehpur, UP). In-between, there was Sadhvi Savitri Bai Phule, 2014 Bahraich MP, who quit months ago unhappy with BJP’s “ways”, as she calls herself a strict follower of the Constitution and Ambedkar. Add Sadhvi Pragya: not just inciting hate and violence, but a terror-accused. Where will the women come from, you ask? Never forget DMK’s Kanimozhi has done time as a scam accused.

Career netas such as loners Mayawati, Mamata, Sheila Dikshit, Sushma Swaraj and recently AAP’s Atishi, and family netas Indira, Mehbooba, Vasundhara, Kanimozhi, Jayalalithaa, Rabri mommy, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Harsimrats-Priya Dutts-Supriya Sules-Mausam Noors and Priyanka Gandhi aside, we have even had a lady dacoit in Parliament — Phoolan Devi. Incidentally, the man who murdered Phoolan is a candidate this time. From the Sapaks outfit of MP, formed as an anti-Dalit, anti-OBC, anti-woman entity.

The other areas women so far have been drawn from? Entertainment.

Jayalalithaa an early star. Hema Malini. Jaya Bachchan. Jaya Prada. Urmila Matondkar. So on and so forth. Moon Moon Sen…

Point is, the women will be drawn from exactly the same pool the men are fished out of.

So this time, Odisha’s BJD is betting on women. An unprecedented 33% candidates. It has banked on women who have risen up the hierarchy from being panchayat members. For every woman, who wins a poll, the number who lose is several times more. Experience is everything.

We have enough women out there, at least a million, who have gone through the panchayat system. And then there are all the non-career netas. No dearth of women.

So the question to ask is not where will the women come from, but where will the men go when the women finally crash in and seize what is theirs. Not just 33% but the full 50%.

That may actually provide the answer to the genesis of that pseudo-support-cum-despair. It is born from the need to keep women out.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Author

Nandita Sengupta is a senior editor with The Times of India. Her blog aims to be mainly about all matters women, which includes men on occasion. Share your ideas with her on nandita.sengupta@timesgroup.com and please keep comments and feedback civil.

Nandita Sengupta is a senior editor with The Times of India. Her blog aims to be mainly about all matters women, which includes men on occasion. Share your . . .

Author

Nandita Sengupta is a senior editor with The Times of India. Her blog aims to be mainly about all matters women, which includes men on occasion. Share your ideas with her on nandita.sengupta@timesgroup.com and please keep comments and feedback civil.

Nandita Sengupta is a senior editor with The Times of India. Her blog aims to be mainly about all matters women, which includes men on occasion. Share your . . .